<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>seeing double (or, quadruple?) by cepzia</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26339632">seeing double (or, quadruple?)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/cepzia/pseuds/cepzia'>cepzia</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Adventure Zone (Podcast)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Minor Barry Bluejeans/Lup, Parallel Universes, i dont know how else to tag this, it makes sense I promise, the twins meet the other twins</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 03:15:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,333</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26339632</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/cepzia/pseuds/cepzia</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Lup and Taako jump out from behind the ship, wands pointed at the people. Lup says, “It’s not the only thing that’s dangerous. Hands where I can see ‘em.”</p>
<p>One of them holds a black box protectively to his chest, using the other person as cover. The other also has a wand that she’s pointing at Lup and Taako. But that’s not what draws Lup’s attention. These two locals, they’re…</p>
<p>“Holy shit,” Taako says. To be specific, the Taako holding the black box. The second Lup freezes in place, eyes wide and unbelieving.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lup &amp; Taako (The Adventure Zone), Minor or Background Relationship(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>43</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>seeing double (or, quadruple?)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“But if I actually do this, you’re going to owe me so much.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Taako rolls his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Are you doing it or not?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lup huffs and reaches back to undo the band holding her hair in a loose ponytail. “Fine.” She starts gathering up the voluminous curls into a bun atop her head. It’ll stay out of her way like this, and is less likely to get grabbed if she needs to run.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Taako, crouching on the ground next to her, shifts from one foot to another and back. He peeks his head out to look past the corner, where guards of the royal palace… well, guard the royal palace. If he can get past them, he’ll find a treasure beyond the castle walls. And if it’s the one he’s heard stories about, then he and Lup won’t have to steal half-rotten food to survive anymore.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hide somewhere, and wait ‘til the coast is clear,” Lup says, standing. Taako nods and stands as well, then hops on top of some trash cans to climb up to the top of a jewelry stand. He stays low, hiding out of view, as Lup casts a disguising spell on herself. No use sneaking somewhere when your twin is also committing a crime.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Taako watches as Lup changes herself to look like an older woman, the perfect image of a peasant housewife with too many kids to take care of. She stretches a bit, takes a deep breath, then takes off sprinting towards the guards. She stops in front of them and takes a moment to catch her breath— </span>
  <em>
    <span>nice touch</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Taako thinks.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Please! You have to help me!” she says in a voice that isn’t her own. “Armed criminals are attacking my husband and my son! We need help!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ma’am, ma’am. Calm down. Which way are they?” one guard asks.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This way, down the road. Please, we have to hurry!” She takes off running with the guards in tow, and Taako starts running along the rooftops to the palace wall. He can’t believe she got both of them to go with so little convincing. But he won’t bite the hand he steals from, or whatever the saying is.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He jumps down and peers into the doorway. A lush green garden with topiaries and fountains leads to the inner wall of the castle. But he won’t need to go that far if his intel is correct.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He walks through, staying alert and somewhat crouched, as he approaches the topiary of a knight in armor. From the bag at his side, he pulls out diggers, clawed gloves he borrowed from one of the mineworkers. He slips them on and begins digging. A distant part of his mind jokes that this thing must be worth it if he’s getting his hands dirty like this.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Not too far down is an opaque black box, with the royal seal printed on in white. He takes it out and hurriedly puts the dirt back in place. It’s not perfect, so someone will notice, but he and Lup’ll be long gone by then.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He puts the box and the gloves back in his bag and sprints out of there. He runs away in a way he hopes is both casual looking and speedy. He goes away from where Lup led the guards and out of the marketplace as a whole, to a tavern in the residential district. He doesn’t go in, just to the back by the trash. As he waits among the stinky rotting food for Lup to return, he picks the lock on the box’s lid. He doesn’t open it though, he wants to share that moment with his sister. He waits nervously until she arrives.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Out of breath, she slumps down next to him. “Those guards fuckin’ </span>
  <em>
    <span>suck</span>
  </em>
  <span>. You really do owe me, Ko.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh I’ll pay you back,” he says, pulling out the box. “By showin’ you this.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A box?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s what’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>in</span>
  </em>
  <span> the box, Lu. Look.” He cracks it open, and white light spills out. They both squint as their eyes adjust, then assess what’s inside.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s… a ball,” Lup says. It certainly looks that way. Taako can’t make much else out about the thing. Maybe that’s all it is, who knows?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“According to those guys at the tavern— not this one, the Davy Lamp, this thing can’t have a price placed on it, that’s how valuable it is. The royal family hid it so no one could break in and steal it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But we just did that,” Lup says. She can’t take her eyes away from the thing. Neither can Taako.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s ‘cause we’re the best, Lulu.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I told you not to call me that.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What? You like Lu but not Lulu?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Lulu makes me sound like a little kid. How’d you like it if I called you Koko?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It sounds like hot cocoa, I’d like it a lot.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lup rolls her eyes and is finally able to take her eyes off the thing. Taako reaches a hand into the box to scoop it into his palm. It thrums with an energy Taako’s never felt before but doesn’t wanna stop feeling. It feels like the last time he ate a warm, fulfilling meal, which was </span>
  <em>
    <span>years</span>
  </em>
  <span> ago. He’s been chasing the feeling since.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Woah…” Lup breathes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know, right?” Taako says with an excited smile.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” she says, pointing. Taako breaks eye contact with the light and looks to where Lup’s pointing, in the sky.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Woah,” Taako repeats.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s a ship. Beautiful and silver and… flying? Like a bird or something, it glides effortlessly across the sky.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What. The. Fuck,” Lup says.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ditto,” Taako says.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is it related to </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span>?” Lup says, looking at the light in Taako’s hand.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Taako lets it fall back into the box and snaps the lid shut. “I don’t know, but let’s find out.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He stands and helps Lup up, and the two of them begin making their way to the flying ship. Usually, Taako would never run into something that could be super dangerous, not if he could help it. But this light, it makes him feel… unstoppable. It’d be a weird thing to say out loud, but clearly Lup feels it too. And he trusts Lup with his life.</span>
</p><hr/>
<p>
  <span>This cycle seems simple, which is what Lup wants. Last cycle was too complicated, with its intricate rules on death and her being a lich and all. This place even almost reminds her of home, with how simple it is, technology-wise. Traveling through reality really put into perspective how not-advanced her homeworld was.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Davenport’s fly around shows that the light is nearby, just outside a kingdom. So they land, and Lup gets ready to settle into waiting for Barry’s scanners to pick up a closer pinpoint. But Lucretia finds her in the lounge before she’s truly comfortable.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Davenport wants you and Taako to go outside and do a bio-check.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lup groans, loud and dramatic. “Really? I can’t catch a fuckin’ break.” She begrudgingly stands and stretches.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t blame the messenger,” is all Lucretia says, sitting in the spot Lup just was in, with a journal in her lap.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Whatever. Have fun with your diary, Luce.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lucretia rolls her eyes good-naturedly as Lup makes for the door. It opens before she grabs the handle, and Taako is on the other side.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Where’re you goin’?” he asks.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>We</span>
  </em>
  <span> are doing the bio-check,” she says, walking past him for the ship’s exit.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Taako groans not unlike Lup and follows her. “I hate it here.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Must suck to be eighty-seven cycles in then.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It does.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They walk down the gangplank into the field they landed in. In the distance, a town surrounding a castle.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Taako takes in a deep breath. “Nope. No poison air.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lup crouches down to feel the green grass. “And no man-eating grass like that one cycle.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Taako laughs a little as he takes out his wand. He starts casting a few spells that Barry made for testing the compatibility between a planet’s biology and the biology of the crew. He waits for a moment, then says, “Everything looks good. There aren't any, like, deadly spores that only kill dwarves or some shit.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His tone is joking, but that almost killed Merle last cycle. Like she said, it was a complicated year. She stands and stretches. “That’s good.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So let’s go back. I wanna take a nap,” Taako says.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Same,” Lup says. They turn to walk back into the ship but freeze as they hear a noise. More specifically, a voice.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s even </span>
  <em>
    <span>weirder</span>
  </em>
  <span> up close.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The twins trade looks. This isn’t the first time they’ve had locals wanting to see the ship. More often than not, those people want to loot it, and the crew has to fight them off.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Taako readies his wand, and Lup does the same. They slowly and quietly make their way towards the voice, as a second one says, “Wait, don’t touch it. It could be dangerous.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lup and Taako jump out from behind the ship, wands pointed at the people. Lup says, “It’s not the only thing that’s dangerous. Hands where I can see ‘em.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>One of them holds a black box protectively to his chest, using the other person as cover. The other also has a wand that she’s pointing at Lup and Taako. But that’s not what draws Lup’s attention. These two locals, they’re…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Holy shit,” Taako says. To be specific, the Taako holding the black box. The second Lup freezes in place, eyes wide and unbelieving.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lup tightens her grip on her wand and points it at the other twins. “Drop the illusions, </span>
  <em>
    <span>now</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“They aren’t illusions,” Taako says quietly, looking at the other twins with suspicion. Lup is inclined to believe him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What the fuck is happening?” Other Lup asks. She lowers her wand and looks at Other Taako, then back at the twins.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lup remembers talking about this with Barry once. With alternate realities comes the possibility of alternate versions of themselves. Really, she shouldn’t be surprised to see them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lup looks to Taako, not moving the hand holding her wand. Quietly, she says, “Go get Barry.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Taako nods and runs off. Lup turns back to the other twins.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I promise, this isn’t a joke or a trick or something,” Other Lup says, eyeing Lup’s wand. “We have no fuckin’ clue what’s going on.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lup eyes the two and decides they seem trustworthy enough. She lowers her wand but doesn’t put it away. No way in hell she's getting killed by evil clones, if these two are evil. She crosses her arms and says, “What’s in the box?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Other Taako holds it tighter to his chest. “It’s ours, we found it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, ‘cause that’s not suspicious at all.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Where’d he go?” Other Lup points to the spot where Taako was.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“To get someone who would know what to do in this situation.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do we know ‘em?” Other Lup asks.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That’s… not a bad question. “You know a guy named Barry?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The twins' eyes go wide again. Lup says, “I’ll take that as a yes.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He has a double too?” Other Lup asks.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lup nods. Judging by the look on her own double’s face, this world’s Barry and Lup haven’t figured their shit out yet. Huh.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“There was always a possibility of this happening, for us at least,” Lup says, “I just didn’t think it’d happen. It’s so unlikely.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So you know more about whatever’s happening?” Other Taako asks.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lup nods. She hears the sound of footsteps behind her and turns to see Taako and Barry, the latter holding his handheld Light tracker.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Barry sees the doubles and his jaw drops a little. He looks at Lup. She shrugs. Other Taako tries to hide a laugh, and Other Lup elbows him. Taako watches Other Lup stare at Barry.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I guess this was, uh… this was inevitable, right?” Barry says.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You two </span>
  <em>
    <span>knew</span>
  </em>
  <span> about this!?” Taako says, turning to his crewmates with wide eyes and an affronted expression.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I mean, it’s always been possible,” Lup says.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So you </span>
  <em>
    <span>knew</span>
  </em>
  <span> about this!” Taako exclaims.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay, what the </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck</span>
  </em>
  <span> is happening!?” Other Taako exclaims.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This is so confusing,” Other Lup says, turning to Other Taako.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Just because it’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>possible</span>
  </em>
  <span> doesn’t mean it’s something I have to worry about!” Lup says to Taako. “I mean, I don’t walk around constantly worried about being struck by lightning!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“OKAY, everyone stop!” Barry shouts, drawing everyone’s attention to himself.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Both pairs fall silent and Barry just looks tired. “This is— this is confusing. Both of you are… both of you. Neither of you are using illusionary magic, I can tell. </span>
  <em>
    <span>You</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” he says, pointing a finger at Other Taako. “have the uh, the Light. I don’t know how much you know about it, but we have to— we need it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Other Taako hugs the box to his chest again. “How’d you know?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Barry holds up his Light tracker. “It’s our mission to find— to get that thing every year. If you give that to us, and come with us, we— we can explain everything.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The other twins trade looks, uncertain but not ruling it out. Lup looks to her own brother, and he shrugs. They look to Barry, who looks a lot less commanding now that the other twins aren’t looking at him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Other Taako turns back to the trio. “Fine.” He throws the box the small distance between the two parties and Taako catches it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll get this to the captain,” he says and disappears into the ship again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lup finally puts her wand away. “Uh, I don’t really know what to say.” What do you say to your alternate universe self?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How about starting with what the ‘Light’ is?” Other Taako says.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Barry starts making his way for the ship and Lup follows, motioning for the other two to follow. She says, “That’s a big question. Long story short, it’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>extremely</span>
  </em>
  <span> important, and can’t be in the wrong hands. We’ve been doing this for a long time, so we know what to do with it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you sure it’s in the right hands?” Other Lup asks. She gestures to herself and her brother. “I mean, I don’t think we’re the evil clones.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They enter the ship proper, and Barry begins leading them to the common room, where the rest of the crew is, no doubt. The other twins are looking around the ship curiously.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s— it’s possible for none of you to be— be evil,” Barry says, “Like, you recognize me, right? Am I, uh, am I evil? In this— this world?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You work for the royal family, and the royal family sucks, so kinda? I guess?” Other Taako says.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Barry looks a little concerned but doesn’t comment. Instead, he asks, “How do you know me?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’ve, uh, ran into you,” Other Lup admits, avoiding gazes. “We’re not close friends with the law.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lup snorts. “Been there.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I see,” Barry says.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lup can practically see the gears in his mind turning. “What’re you thinkin’, babe?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She sees Other Lup gawk at the nickname and Other Taako hold back laughter, but she ignores them both. Barry says, “If we know each other in both— in these realities, maybe there’s something to be said about, uh, bonds and— and fate interacting. Like, um, maybe we’re bound to know the same people in every— in every life?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lup considers this. “That actually doesn’t sound improbable.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They reach the common room, where Taako is standing in front of the crew, explaining the situation. He stops mid-word, though, when the other twins enter the room.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>See</span>
  </em>
  <span>?” he says, gesturing to them. The crew is staring wide-eyed, and the other twins are mirroring them perfectly. They must recognize the crew too, interesting. Taako says, “And Lup and Barold </span>
  <em>
    <span>knew</span>
  </em>
  <span> this was happening!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Other Lup breaks out of her shock first, facing Taako. “Barold?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lucretia speaks up. “I mean, it’s been a possibility. Just because there’s a tiny chance something could happen doesn’t mean we necessarily need to prepare for it. It’s like being struck by lightning.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Or dwarf-killin’ spores!” Merle adds. Lucretia nods.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Taako groans. “This again! I swear, I—”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you guys not going to explain all this!?” Other Lup shouts in an exasperated tone. She turns to Lup and says, “I mean, we didn’t even know boats could fly before today! And now we’re meeting copies of people? This is so weird and you’re leaving us out to dry here.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Other Taako nods, arms crossed and looking between the two Lups. Lup says to the whole room, “Guys, these two are locals on this planet. They found the Light. Other twins, the seven of us travel to alternate realities together, looking for the Light. That’s the gist of it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Davenport says, “Okay, let’s all sit down and explain our halves of the story, then we go from there.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sounds good, man, I need to know more. This shit’s confusing,” Other Taako says, moving to sit on the couch. Other Lup follows. Taako, Lup, and Barry sit down too, and they all begin talking.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s a long conversation, longer on the IPRE crew’s end. They have to go through the “this is a spaceship and this is how it works and here’s what we do every year” talk. They go through it on every plane that doesn’t have space travel. The other twins explain the royal family of their kingdom finding the Light and hiding it, and the two of them finding it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>At the end of the conversation, everyone is a lot calmer now that they know the full story. (Even if Other Taako has been eyeing Lucretia curiously as she writes all this down.) Other Lup says, “So, you have the Light now, right? Mission accomplished?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Seems like it,” Davenport says.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What do we do now?” Magnus asks.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We can relax for once!” Taako says, “They did all the work for us.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I do want to know— I wanna see how my theory of— of bonds in alternate realities plays out,” Barry says, and he might need a journal like Lucretia. He looks like he has ideas.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We can do that by finding our other selves on this plane,” Lup says.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Taako sighs, slumping against his seat. “I say ‘relax’ and you two nerds hear ‘research.’”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you know the other versions of us here?” Merle asks the other twins.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Other Lup says, “I mean, we only know Lucretia and Davenport by name, but we know the rest of you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, do ya know me?” Magnus asks, leaning forward in his seat.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course,” Other Taako says as if it’s obvious. “Everyone who lives in Phandalin knows Magnus. He’s a…” He waves his hand, finding the words. “folk hero type-a guy.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s so cool,” Magnus says.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Barry turns to Lup to say, “If we can find a— if we can find constant bonds, we could find allies that, uh, that we ourselves haven’t met yet.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He’s keeping his voice down not out of secrecy, but to not interrupt the other twins, who’ve started a story about Other Magnus and stuff he’s done. Lup says, “That’s real smart, babe. If we can find our other selves, they can help too. Fourteen heads are better than seven, right?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Barry laughs a little. “Yeah, I think that’s the, uh, that’s the saying, if I remember.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What’re you two talking about?” Taako asks.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Uh, ‘relaxing’, if I remember correctly,” Lup says, standing. She holds out a hand and helps Barry up, then slings her arm over his shoulders. She leads them towards the door, saying, “We’ll catch you goofs on the flippity dip.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>If she notices Other Lup watch the way she’s effortlessly casual with Barry, she doesn’t say anything. But the idea of playing Cupid for alternate reality versions of herself and her boyfriend is intriguing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Well, add that to the mental whiteboard. The crew already has the Light, but it looks like they’ll be busy this year.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>ty for reading!! comments go a long way, and are super appriciated. im also on tumblr <a href="https://comradelup.tumblr.com">@comradelup</a> if you wanna say hi</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>